This book discusses the central role that race played in Mississippi's gradual transition from a Democratic stronghold to a solidly Republican state. Prior to 1965, the state had almost no black ...
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This book discusses the central role that race played in Mississippi's gradual transition from a Democratic stronghold to a solidly Republican state. Prior to 1965, the state had almost no black political participation, but, in just over twenty years, it had hundreds of black elected officials. The growth of black political power was contested by white politicians in both parties, who alternated between resistance to and solicitation of black voters. These mechanisms of resistance included numerous vote-dilution schemes to weaken black voting strength and defeat black candidates. Eventually, the Democratic Party achieved integration, but white Democrats still held the real power in the party. The price of this integration was the increasing defection of white voters to the Republicans, who abandoned interracial efforts in favor of racial conservatism and indifference to black concerns. Unlike recent studies arguing that class, economics, or other nonracial issues played a role in southern political realignment, this study reinforces the fact that race was at the heart of the “Great White Switch” of Mississippi to the GOP in the 1980s.Less

Chris Danielson

Published in print: 2011-12-04

This book discusses the central role that race played in Mississippi's gradual transition from a Democratic stronghold to a solidly Republican state. Prior to 1965, the state had almost no black political participation, but, in just over twenty years, it had hundreds of black elected officials. The growth of black political power was contested by white politicians in both parties, who alternated between resistance to and solicitation of black voters. These mechanisms of resistance included numerous vote-dilution schemes to weaken black voting strength and defeat black candidates. Eventually, the Democratic Party achieved integration, but white Democrats still held the real power in the party. The price of this integration was the increasing defection of white voters to the Republicans, who abandoned interracial efforts in favor of racial conservatism and indifference to black concerns. Unlike recent studies arguing that class, economics, or other nonracial issues played a role in southern political realignment, this study reinforces the fact that race was at the heart of the “Great White Switch” of Mississippi to the GOP in the 1980s.

This is a collection of recent scholarship on the aftermath of US slave emancipation, with a range of contributions from leading scholars in the field (Foner, Holt, Fitzgerald), up-and-coming ...
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This is a collection of recent scholarship on the aftermath of US slave emancipation, with a range of contributions from leading scholars in the field (Foner, Holt, Fitzgerald), up-and-coming historians with a reputation in the study of Reconstruction (O'Donovan, Baker, Kelly, Downs), and other promising junior and mid-level scholars (Illingworth, Mathisen, Bryant, Rhyne) whose essays here speak to some of the key issues in Reconstruction historiography. Aside from Holt's opening piece and the afterword by Foner, the essays were selected from more than 75 papers presented at two conferences organized by the After Slavery Project (www.afterslavery.com), a transatlantic research collaboration directed by Brian Kelly from Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland. The selection was based on three main criteria: the essays had to concern the former Confederate states during the period following slave emancipation; they had to be based on original research; and in the judgment of the editors, the essays had to make a substantial contribution to Reconstruction historiography. We sought essays that concerned the role of labor in Reconstruction but did not confine ourselves to these. The result is a collection that covers a geographically diverse area of the former slave states, grappling with problems central to Reconstruction scholarship in the aftermath of Foner's important synthesis.Less

After Slavery : Race, Labor, and Citizenship in the Reconstruction South

Bruce E. BakerBrian Kelly

Published in print: 2013-09-03

This is a collection of recent scholarship on the aftermath of US slave emancipation, with a range of contributions from leading scholars in the field (Foner, Holt, Fitzgerald), up-and-coming historians with a reputation in the study of Reconstruction (O'Donovan, Baker, Kelly, Downs), and other promising junior and mid-level scholars (Illingworth, Mathisen, Bryant, Rhyne) whose essays here speak to some of the key issues in Reconstruction historiography. Aside from Holt's opening piece and the afterword by Foner, the essays were selected from more than 75 papers presented at two conferences organized by the After Slavery Project (www.afterslavery.com), a transatlantic research collaboration directed by Brian Kelly from Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland. The selection was based on three main criteria: the essays had to concern the former Confederate states during the period following slave emancipation; they had to be based on original research; and in the judgment of the editors, the essays had to make a substantial contribution to Reconstruction historiography. We sought essays that concerned the role of labor in Reconstruction but did not confine ourselves to these. The result is a collection that covers a geographically diverse area of the former slave states, grappling with problems central to Reconstruction scholarship in the aftermath of Foner's important synthesis.

During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, thousands of people were incarcerated in southern jails as a result of their involvement with the civil rights movement. This book follows those activists inside ...
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During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, thousands of people were incarcerated in southern jails as a result of their involvement with the civil rights movement. This book follows those activists inside the jail cell to explore the trials and tribulations of life as a civil rights prisoner. It highlights the conditions inside southern jails, activists’ interactions with “ordinary” prisoners, and the importance of race and gender in shaping the prisoners’ treatment. It also reveals how, beyond the jail cell, the movement sought to counter such repression via an ideology that embraced imprisonment as a mark of honor and a statement of resistance, while also seeking to fill the jails and thereby place financial pressure upon local government; this was encapsulated in the term “jail-no-bail.” Organizations and individuals regularly testified to the importance of incarceration as a form of induction into the movement. However, after 1963, as activists faced increasingly serious charges and served longer sentences, many struggled to maintain their commitment to the philosophy behind jail-no-bail. Beneath movement rhetoric, activists found that the earlier exuberance for jail sentences did not fit with the conditions under which they worked. Ain’t Scared of Your Jail concludes by examining the shift toward black power in the post-1965 era and demonstrates how activists, now freed from an earlier focus upon integration and respectability, began to challenge mainstream definitions of criminality to claim that black prisoners were not so much criminals as victims of a racist social structure.Less

Zoe A. Colley

Published in print: 2012-12-16

During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, thousands of people were incarcerated in southern jails as a result of their involvement with the civil rights movement. This book follows those activists inside the jail cell to explore the trials and tribulations of life as a civil rights prisoner. It highlights the conditions inside southern jails, activists’ interactions with “ordinary” prisoners, and the importance of race and gender in shaping the prisoners’ treatment. It also reveals how, beyond the jail cell, the movement sought to counter such repression via an ideology that embraced imprisonment as a mark of honor and a statement of resistance, while also seeking to fill the jails and thereby place financial pressure upon local government; this was encapsulated in the term “jail-no-bail.” Organizations and individuals regularly testified to the importance of incarceration as a form of induction into the movement. However, after 1963, as activists faced increasingly serious charges and served longer sentences, many struggled to maintain their commitment to the philosophy behind jail-no-bail. Beneath movement rhetoric, activists found that the earlier exuberance for jail sentences did not fit with the conditions under which they worked. Ain’t Scared of Your Jail concludes by examining the shift toward black power in the post-1965 era and demonstrates how activists, now freed from an earlier focus upon integration and respectability, began to challenge mainstream definitions of criminality to claim that black prisoners were not so much criminals as victims of a racist social structure.

Conventional history narratives tell us that in the early years of the Republic, the United States fought three wars against the Seminole Indians and two against the Creeks. However, this book argues ...
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Conventional history narratives tell us that in the early years of the Republic, the United States fought three wars against the Seminole Indians and two against the Creeks. However, this book argues that we would do better to view these events as moments of heightened military aggression punctuating a much longer period of conflict in the Gulf Coast region. Featuring chapters on topics ranging from international diplomacy to Seminole military strategy, the volume urges us to reconsider the reasons for and impact of early U.S. territorial expansion. It highlights the actions and motivations of Indians and African Americans during the period and establishes the groundwork for research that is more balanced and looks beyond the hopes and dreams of whites.Less

America's Hundred Years' War : U.S. Expansion to the Gulf Coast and the Fate of the Seminole,
17631858

Published in print: 2011-01-23

Conventional history narratives tell us that in the early years of the Republic, the United States fought three wars against the Seminole Indians and two against the Creeks. However, this book argues that we would do better to view these events as moments of heightened military aggression punctuating a much longer period of conflict in the Gulf Coast region. Featuring chapters on topics ranging from international diplomacy to Seminole military strategy, the volume urges us to reconsider the reasons for and impact of early U.S. territorial expansion. It highlights the actions and motivations of Indians and African Americans during the period and establishes the groundwork for research that is more balanced and looks beyond the hopes and dreams of whites.

This book provides detailed history and technical design information on every type of small rescue craft ever used by the United States Life-Saving Service and United States Coast Guard, from the ...
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This book provides detailed history and technical design information on every type of small rescue craft ever used by the United States Life-Saving Service and United States Coast Guard, from the early 1800s to the current day. By looking at these vessels, many of which featured innovative designs, the chapters shed light on the brave men and women who served in USLSS and USCG stations, saving innumerable lives. In the book rare photographs and drawings of each type of boat are enhanced by detailed design histories, specifications, and station assignments for each craft. The book includes motorized, wind-powered, and human-powered vessels.Less

American Coastal Rescue Craft: A Design History of Coastal Rescue Craft Used by the USLSS and Uscg

William D. Wilkinson

Published in print: 2009-07-01

This book provides detailed history and technical design information on every type of small rescue craft ever used by the United States Life-Saving Service and United States Coast Guard, from the early 1800s to the current day. By looking at these vessels, many of which featured innovative designs, the chapters shed light on the brave men and women who served in USLSS and USCG stations, saving innumerable lives. In the book rare photographs and drawings of each type of boat are enhanced by detailed design histories, specifications, and station assignments for each craft. The book includes motorized, wind-powered, and human-powered vessels.

American historians tend to believe that labor activism was moribund in the years between the First World War and the New Deal. The book challenges this perspective in this examination of the ...
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American historians tend to believe that labor activism was moribund in the years between the First World War and the New Deal. The book challenges this perspective in this examination of the railroad unions of the time, arguing that not only were they active, but that they made a big difference in American Labor practices by helping to set legal precedents. The book explains how efforts by the Plumb Plan League and the Railroad Labor Executive Association created the Railroad Labor Act, its amendments, and the Railroad Retirement Act. These laws became models for the National Labor Relations Act and the Social Security Act. Unfortunately, the significant contributions of the railroad laws are, more often than not, overlooked when the NLRA or Social Security are discussed. Offering a new perspective on labor unions in the 1920s, the book describes how the railroad unions created a model for union activism that workers' organizations followed for the next two decades.Less

American Railroad Labor and the Genesis of the New Deal, 1919–1935

Jon R. Huibregtse

Published in print: 2010-04-01

American historians tend to believe that labor activism was moribund in the years between the First World War and the New Deal. The book challenges this perspective in this examination of the railroad unions of the time, arguing that not only were they active, but that they made a big difference in American Labor practices by helping to set legal precedents. The book explains how efforts by the Plumb Plan League and the Railroad Labor Executive Association created the Railroad Labor Act, its amendments, and the Railroad Retirement Act. These laws became models for the National Labor Relations Act and the Social Security Act. Unfortunately, the significant contributions of the railroad laws are, more often than not, overlooked when the NLRA or Social Security are discussed. Offering a new perspective on labor unions in the 1920s, the book describes how the railroad unions created a model for union activism that workers' organizations followed for the next two decades.

This volume showcases, but also interrogates, the value of Atlantic World approaches to the histories and cultures of the American South. Challenging the traditional chronological focus of most ...
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This volume showcases, but also interrogates, the value of Atlantic World approaches to the histories and cultures of the American South. Challenging the traditional chronological focus of most Atlantic history on the Early Modern period, the volume ranges from colonial times to the modern era, while thematically it embraces a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to topics such as economics, migration, religion, revolution, law, slavery, race relations, emancipation, gender, literature, performance, visual culture, memoir, ethnography, empires, nations, and historiography. Geographically, the chapters focus mainly on the southern region of the North American continent and the lands in and around the Atlantic Ocean-although the physical location of a putative “Atlantic World” and, for that matter, of something we can call an “American South” are among the definitional issues with which the volume wrestles. Ultimately, the value of any grand concept such as Atlantic History, or Atlantic Studies, or the Black Atlantic depends on its capacity to explain past or present social realities. The cumulative effect of the mix of case studies and state-of-the-field essays gathered in this volume is to affirm that there is much to be learned about both the American South and the Atlantic World by considering them together and from diverse disciplinary perspectives. In so doing, the volume makes a valuable contribution to the fields of American, southern, and Atlantic Studies.Less

The American South and the Atlantic World

Published in print: 2013-05-14

This volume showcases, but also interrogates, the value of Atlantic World approaches to the histories and cultures of the American South. Challenging the traditional chronological focus of most Atlantic history on the Early Modern period, the volume ranges from colonial times to the modern era, while thematically it embraces a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to topics such as economics, migration, religion, revolution, law, slavery, race relations, emancipation, gender, literature, performance, visual culture, memoir, ethnography, empires, nations, and historiography. Geographically, the chapters focus mainly on the southern region of the North American continent and the lands in and around the Atlantic Ocean-although the physical location of a putative “Atlantic World” and, for that matter, of something we can call an “American South” are among the definitional issues with which the volume wrestles. Ultimately, the value of any grand concept such as Atlantic History, or Atlantic Studies, or the Black Atlantic depends on its capacity to explain past or present social realities. The cumulative effect of the mix of case studies and state-of-the-field essays gathered in this volume is to affirm that there is much to be learned about both the American South and the Atlantic World by considering them together and from diverse disciplinary perspectives. In so doing, the volume makes a valuable contribution to the fields of American, southern, and Atlantic Studies.

In the first decades of the twentieth century, a number of states had bureaus whose responsibility was to help immigrants assimilate into American society. Often described negatively as efforts to ...
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In the first decades of the twentieth century, a number of states had bureaus whose responsibility was to help immigrants assimilate into American society. Often described negatively as efforts to force foreigners into appropriate molds, this book demonstrates that these programs—including adult education, environmental improvement, labor market regulations, and conflict resolutions—were typically implemented by groups sympathetic to immigrants and their cultures. The book offers a comparative history of social welfare policies developed in four distinct regions with diverse immigrant populations: New York, California, Massachusetts, and Illinois. By focusing on state actions versus national agencies and organizations, and by examining rural and western approaches in addition to urban and eastern ones, the author broadens the historical literature associated with Americanization. She also reveals how these programs, and the theories of citizenship and national identity used to justify their underlying policies, were really attempts by middle-class progressives to get new citizens to adopt Anglo-American, middle-class values and lifestyles.Less

Americanization in the States : Immigrant Social Welfare Policy, Citizenship, and National Identity in the United States, 19081929

Christina A. Ziegler-McPherson

Published in print: 2009-07-01

In the first decades of the twentieth century, a number of states had bureaus whose responsibility was to help immigrants assimilate into American society. Often described negatively as efforts to force foreigners into appropriate molds, this book demonstrates that these programs—including adult education, environmental improvement, labor market regulations, and conflict resolutions—were typically implemented by groups sympathetic to immigrants and their cultures. The book offers a comparative history of social welfare policies developed in four distinct regions with diverse immigrant populations: New York, California, Massachusetts, and Illinois. By focusing on state actions versus national agencies and organizations, and by examining rural and western approaches in addition to urban and eastern ones, the author broadens the historical literature associated with Americanization. She also reveals how these programs, and the theories of citizenship and national identity used to justify their underlying policies, were really attempts by middle-class progressives to get new citizens to adopt Anglo-American, middle-class values and lifestyles.

Beyond Forty Acres and a Mule focuses on America's most-forgotten farmers: black families that cast their lot on their own land and depended on their own labor in a nation that doubted their right to ...
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Beyond Forty Acres and a Mule focuses on America's most-forgotten farmers: black families that cast their lot on their own land and depended on their own labor in a nation that doubted their right to control either. Rural African Americans have long been perceived as dependent tenants, sharecroppers, and agricultural laborers. This collection of essays indicates that one in four black farm families overcame numerous obstacles by 1920 to own farm land. It does this without diminishing the serious nature of the opposition that limited their right to property and independent decision making. These essays indicate that black farmers who became farm owners and landowners should not be dismissed as anomalous economic success stories. Instead, they should be evaluated within the context of a larger social historical milieu. White landowners attempted to protect white's privileged status within the American agrarian ideal that linked landownership to morality and full citizenship. Black farm families had to overcome this philosophical barrier and additional obstacles posed by racism and sexism, the crop lien system of labor, debt, and unstable markets. Additional factors such as geographic isolation, limited crop and stock choices, mechanization, personal relationships, and kinship networks all affected black farm families in numerous and inconsistent ways. Beyond Forty Acres encourages readers to re-conceptualize small farms not as failure when compared to large-scale production agriculture but as an alternative approach specific to a time and place.Less

Beyond Forty Acres and a Mule : African American Landowning Families since Reconstruction

Published in print: 2012-06-10

Beyond Forty Acres and a Mule focuses on America's most-forgotten farmers: black families that cast their lot on their own land and depended on their own labor in a nation that doubted their right to control either. Rural African Americans have long been perceived as dependent tenants, sharecroppers, and agricultural laborers. This collection of essays indicates that one in four black farm families overcame numerous obstacles by 1920 to own farm land. It does this without diminishing the serious nature of the opposition that limited their right to property and independent decision making. These essays indicate that black farmers who became farm owners and landowners should not be dismissed as anomalous economic success stories. Instead, they should be evaluated within the context of a larger social historical milieu. White landowners attempted to protect white's privileged status within the American agrarian ideal that linked landownership to morality and full citizenship. Black farm families had to overcome this philosophical barrier and additional obstacles posed by racism and sexism, the crop lien system of labor, debt, and unstable markets. Additional factors such as geographic isolation, limited crop and stock choices, mechanization, personal relationships, and kinship networks all affected black farm families in numerous and inconsistent ways. Beyond Forty Acres encourages readers to re-conceptualize small farms not as failure when compared to large-scale production agriculture but as an alternative approach specific to a time and place.

Black Art in Brazil explores the work of five artists from different regions of Brazil—Abdias do Nascimento, Ronaldo Rego, Eustáquio Neves, Ayrson Heráclito, and Rosana Paulino—against the wider ...
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Black Art in Brazil explores the work of five artists from different regions of Brazil—Abdias do Nascimento, Ronaldo Rego, Eustáquio Neves, Ayrson Heráclito, and Rosana Paulino—against the wider backdrop of socio—historical and political developments taking place at the national and popular levels in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The book traces the history of national and international interest in black art in Brazil, changes in the related terminology, and development of the discourse. Excerpts from interviews with artists and curators illustrate how different individuals understand and relate to the increasingly popular label “Afro—Brazilian art.” The publication also expands upon current scholarship by introducing its readers to a variety of paintings, prints, photographs, installations, sculptures, and performance pieces produced outside the Afro—Brazilian religious communities for secular audiences. The book’s in-depth analysis of different works demonstrates how some Brazilian art conveys “blackness” through visual vocabulary and how the markers of black art and culture have continued to diversify. In comparing modern (post-1920) and contemporary (post-1985) production, the book reveals that as the discourse on race, ethnicity, and black art began to change in the 1970s, so too did artists shift the creative focus from exploring their African cultural heritage to producing work that confronts current race—related social challenges in Brazil.Less

Black Art in Brazil : Expressions of Identity

Kimberly L. Cleveland

Published in print: 2013-06-18

Black Art in Brazil explores the work of five artists from different regions of Brazil—Abdias do Nascimento, Ronaldo Rego, Eustáquio Neves, Ayrson Heráclito, and Rosana Paulino—against the wider backdrop of socio—historical and political developments taking place at the national and popular levels in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The book traces the history of national and international interest in black art in Brazil, changes in the related terminology, and development of the discourse. Excerpts from interviews with artists and curators illustrate how different individuals understand and relate to the increasingly popular label “Afro—Brazilian art.” The publication also expands upon current scholarship by introducing its readers to a variety of paintings, prints, photographs, installations, sculptures, and performance pieces produced outside the Afro—Brazilian religious communities for secular audiences. The book’s in-depth analysis of different works demonstrates how some Brazilian art conveys “blackness” through visual vocabulary and how the markers of black art and culture have continued to diversify. In comparing modern (post-1920) and contemporary (post-1985) production, the book reveals that as the discourse on race, ethnicity, and black art began to change in the 1970s, so too did artists shift the creative focus from exploring their African cultural heritage to producing work that confronts current race—related social challenges in Brazil.

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